Friday, July 10, 2009

Your Rejection Only Makes Me Dance

A publisher accidentally sent Susan Messer private notes about a manuscript. Once she recovered from her devastation, she decided to turn the hurtful words into a performance piece entitled, "Rejection Rhumba." The sound is muffled, but you get the idea.

4 comments:

Hey, thanks for picking up on this and posting. I'll always remember how humiliated I felt when I opened that envelope from the lit mag. I hid it in my office, didn't tell anyone about it. Then, a few days later, still stewing about it, I realized that I hadn't done anything wrong. I'd simply submitted a short story to a magazine. Then the idea for a response began to take shape.

Yes to all, and thanks again (that photo of the pumpkin is amazing). And despite it all, some of us persevere. I just had my first novel published (Grand River and Joy from University of Michigan Press), and the painful rejection experiences are way-stops along the path. I hope you won't mind a plug. http://www.susanmesser.net/grandriver&joy.html

Rules of the Game

4) Be nice to one another. The world is already overpopulated with asses.

Guess What?

After 15 years of rejections (most of them posted here along with all the rejections you've sent me over the years), my novel is getting published by a literary press. Little third-gendered me will soon have a book you can read for yourself and see if the hundreds of rejections were misguided or not. For more on the matter, read this post and this one too.

People Magazine Picks Miracle Girls

What the What? (This is actually for real.)

ew.com blog review

"Failure is the New Funny. Whether you're a writer ... or a bookworm ... Literary Rejections on Display is worth checking out."

Huff Po Compliment

"A highly entertaining blog."

The Millions Assesses

"An answer to what to do with your rejections: throw them away, but first, complain about them on the internet!"

Gawker Gawks LROD

"A reminder of the competitive pressures that help drive some authors to start plagiarizing and making things up."

GALLEYCAT Chimes In

"Excellent blog."

The Boston Phoenix Rises

"Might we suggest whiling away the hours with Literary Rejections On Display? We've been hooked for the last couple of weeks..."

Psych Today Puts LROD On The Couch

"An author who, like the rest of us, experiences many more rejections than acceptances."

Blogher Offers a Female Nod

"And since something isn't really something until there's a blog about it, I give you Literary Rejections on Display."

Poets & Writers Questions LROD

"Isn't it part of the writer's job to learn from--rather than reject--rejection?"

HTML GIANT Confesses

"I am sort of addicted to this site. I go through phases: I check it regularly, then I stop myself and ignore it for several months. Then I remember it again and sift through its wreckage."

The Village Voice Bitches About LROD

"Deliberately composed of unpublished individuals who wear their rejection slips as badges of integrity."

Cape Cod Times Gets the Joke

"Caschetta’s wit sparkles in “Literary Rejections on Display,” a humorous and intelligent look at the literary world"